Velvet ShankFlammulina velutipes

Grows in clusters on wood. The cap is honey-yellow to orange-brown and often shiny or sticky when wet. The lower stem becomes dark brown to almost black and feels velvety.

On stumps and trunks of broadleaved trees, especially willow, poplar and elm.

Mainly from late autumn through winter and into early spring during mild spells.

If the description above leaves you unsure, do not guess from memory and do not compare by eye with a picture off the internet. Our photo identifier shows several likely candidates with percentages, and names the dangerous lookalikes if there are any — rather than one confident answer.

Fruits from early November to late February.

This species may not be picked (see «Caution» below), so storing and cooking do not belong here. If you find one: photograph it where it stands, do not cut or dig it up, and remember the spot for your own records — the mycelium fruits there year after year.

Edible when correctly identified and cooked, but it grows on wood alongside other small brown mushrooms, including the deadly Funeral Bell. Velvet Shank usually has no ring and has a dark, velvety lower stem. Funeral Bell often shows rusty-brown spores and a ring zone. These clues are not enough for a beginner to make a safe identification.

Nothing on this page is an expert opinion, and nothing here confirms that the mushroom you found is edible. Photo identification in this service is a probabilistic hint, not permission to pick or to eat.